The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Review

Where do I begin with this one?

I was lucky enough to see the theatrical production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane last summer just as it was finishing its run in London. In the beginning it was a novel written by Neil Gaiman and published in 2013. And now it is touring the UK in a theatre somewhere near you. I suppose I should start by stating: GO AND SEE THIS SHOW. It is weird and wonderful and will leave you stunned at first and then a jabbering mess later on about what you’ve witnessed whilst you’re trying to make sense of it. I remember last year in London and seeing it again in Milton Keynes last week, at half time, the usual buzz of chatter about getting a drink or an ice cream was replaced with an excited wave of noise as all around me asked their companions, ‘what the fuck did we just witness?’ It’s not psychedelic, it’s just… odd. But wonderful.

The problem I have is, this show is just so bloody good, but I’m going to struggle to elucidate why I believe this. I told my good friend about it after seeing it in London, but could not do it justice, so I just said, fuck it, it’s going on tour, I’ll get tickets for us for your birthday and you’ll enjoy it, honestly. And she definitely did. Afterwards I asked her to explain it to me around her joyful grin of watching a damn good show and I just got a look and an, ‘errrrrrrr…’

You see intrinsically it’s about the transition from childhood to adulthood and just before the pressures of the adult world come crashing down and the child is still in that stage of life where their imagination is not coddled by the real world, fantasy is born. Neil Gaimain is renowned for being one of the best fantasy authors with a knack of weaving that fantasy into the real world. This is definitely on display in The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It’s magical realism at its best. An adult has come back to his childhood home to bury his Dad and reminisces about the old days when he was a child. The audience is then sucked into the memories of this adult and his life when he was twelve. And the magic has already begun. If you do go and see it, look out for the mug at the start and the end. Where does it come from?

We follow ‘Boy’ as he remembers the time when the lodger commits suicide in his Dad’s car and this tragic event brings about a tear in reality and high jinks ensue. We meet Lettie Hempstock, seemingly the same age as ‘Boy,’ a sweet yet precocious ‘child’ who may be a little older than we first think. The Hempstock farm is a haven against dark forces that are trying to invade our world and when a ‘flee’ or demon does invade, ‘Boy’ and Lettie must save their family and friends and ultimately themselves. I can see your face as you read this. It’s saying, ‘what the fuck is ed on about?’

And that’s the wondrous thing about this show. Through dance and puppetry, movement and sound, we as the audience are transported to this place where fantasy is real and monsters do actually hide in the dark places. There’s a bloody hand in a bath, a character who is in two places at once and some birds. Is this making any sense? No? I suppose it doesn’t matter. Go and see this awesome show and let me know what you think.